In recent years supermarkets have become increasingly automated, and to this end, a machine readable code, such as the universal product code (UPC), or bar code, and a code reader have been developed and used in many supermarkets. The code consists of a series of bars printed on a commodity package or on a label attached to a package, and a scanner, which is normally located at the store checkout station, reads the coded information. The information includes the total cost of the package and, depending on the type of commodity, the name of a manufacturer, and an identification of the commodity.
Proposals have been made to use the bar code in connection with random weight packages, such as with prepackaged meats in a meat display counter and with delicatessen foods. When used with prepackaged meats, it has been proposed to have some of the coded numbers designate the price and the remainder of the numbers identify the product and, perhaps, a department. In such a system, a printer is required at each weighing station, which is capable of printing information both in human readable form and in machine-readable bar code form.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,961,747 discloses a system as described above, that prints a bar code on a label, the code including the commodity price. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,291,232 and No. 3,459,272 show examples of prior art systems wherein the data are printed in human readable form only. U.S. Pat. No. 3,741,324 shows a computer-scale having a keyboard data entry and decoding system, and apparatus for handling human- and machine readable symbols. U.S. Pat. No. 3,459,271 shows a computer-scale system connected to a central computer.
The proposed arrangements described above have a number of disadvantages. A bar code printer must be provided at each weighing station, and a good quality printer has a high initial cost and frequently a high maintenance cost. Also, and more importantly, in the proposed systems the amount of information capable of being transmitted by a bar code is very limited. For efficient supermarket operation, the management would like to have a large amount of information regarding each package available for analysis, and past proposals have not been able to satisfy this need.